THE EASIEST THING in the world to do was collapse.
The Republic of Ireland had the perfect opportunity to just give in, accept that fate was fighting against them and simply succumb to the inevitable Belgian dominance.
Instead, the Girls in Green responded to adversity with a performance of class and conviction.
And, when it was needed most, just a little bit of luck as substitute Abbie Larkin benefitted from one wild swipe of her left foot before a deft, deadly dink with her right to seal a 5-4 aggregate victory in the 90th minute.
It was no less than they deserved after a second-half display that seemed to take Belgium by surprise and left them clueless to counter the Irish dominance.
On the occasion of superstar Katie McCabe’s 100th cap, hopefully this will be a coming-of-age night for 20-year-old Larkin. She was the youngest member of the squad that travelled to the World Cup in 2023 and now, under new boss Carla Ward, her performance typified a growing maturity of this Ireland team.
There are still kinks to iron out – the first half showed that – but League A of Nations League now awaits as well as being seeded for the World Cup play-offs provided they don’t do the job and qualify themselves.
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The way they dealt with what came their way here would make anything feel possible again. Belief is growing.
“One of the best feelings I’ve ever had,” Larkin said on RTÉ. “We fought through it, we never gave up, that shows what we’re all about. It shows we’re Irish and we’ll never give up.
“As soon as the goal went in I was like ‘wow’, I was actually going to start crying it was that good but I had to focus then for the next two minutes.”
It was a stunning end to a night that threatened to turn sour when Ireland’s two-goal lead was wiped out in seven disastrous first-half minutes.
It was a period that lurched from suffering at the feet of the sublime to inflicting some ridiculous punishment on themselves.
Belgium’s opener was brilliant just after the half hour mark, and it came at a time when Ireland’s own confidence and early assuredness was beginning to wane.
The hosts had begun to take control but maybe Ireland still felt a little too comfortable as when the Belgians upped the gears to turn on the style they cut them open with a blistering one-touch passage of play.
Laura Deloose played a simple square pass to Jarne Deulings and before Denise O’Sullivan could get close her opponent had already played a lovely pass around the corner to the feet of Janice Cayman. Deulings was on her bike away from O’Sullivan to get Cayman’a instant lay off and she fizzed the ball down the left for Deloose who also continued her run away from Aoife Mannion.
She looked up to see Jill Janssens bombing forward to the centre of the box and that is what attracted Katie McCabe across. The pass was miscued, though, and felt perfectly for Wullaert who finished first time with a finish back in the direction of where the cross came from.
Enough time had passed for Ireland to regain composure but conceding the second in the manner they did suggested they were still unnerved by the manner in which they were cut open previously.
A harmless ball forward should have been dealt with by Caitlin Hayes. The centre back was under no pressure and had time to take control, pick out a pass or clear her lines. Instead, she opted to clear straight away but scuffed it into the direction of Wullaert around 25 yards out.
That would have been of little concern had Grace Moloney not strayed well off her line, perhaps anticipating that Hayes might even have let the initial ball run through to her in the box.
Communication was lacking and Wullaert was not going to pass up the opportunity to make it international goal 98 for her country. She took one touch to control, another to get it out of her feet and then chipped the stranded Moloney.
If the manner of that equaliser to make it 4-4 on aggregate was infuriating, it was equally frustrating to see Ireland return for the second half and take complete control in an attacking sense.
Marissa Sheva was a livewire down the left, burrowing forward on two occasions to tee up Kyra Carusa for a shot she should have done better with before forcing a save herself with a shot across goal.
The best chance of the lot came on 65 minutes when Larkin raced onto not one but two headed flick ons, the first from Hayes and the second from Carusa, that sent her through on goal.
She was at an angle on the right but there was enough of the goal to aim for that she really should have hit the target instead of scuffing tamely wide. Thankfully this miss would not haunt her.
Such was Belgium’s annoyance at how Ireland had seized the initiative, captain Wullaert was shown a yellow card for hacking down McCabe from behind and then pushing Sheeva and squaring up to Hayes.
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The game was in the balance entering the final quarter of normal time given what was at stake but it was Ireland attempting to tip the scales in their favour.
Despite the manner of those two goals they were far more commanding in defence and the energy and confidence shown by Sheeva, in particular, was stirring. Two minutes from time Ireland were again denied when O’Sullivan treated a ball through for Carusa in the box only for her shot to be expertly saved.
And then the last bit of drama.
McCabe launched a long ball. O’Sullivan won the flick on. Carusa scuffed a cross into the box and a sliding challenge from Deloose could only divert the ball to Larkin.
She swung wildly with her first effort but, in an instant, regained composure to score a goal that sent Ireland wild.
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'I was actually going to start crying it was that good' - Coming-of-age moment for Abbie Larkin
THE EASIEST THING in the world to do was collapse.
The Republic of Ireland had the perfect opportunity to just give in, accept that fate was fighting against them and simply succumb to the inevitable Belgian dominance.
Instead, the Girls in Green responded to adversity with a performance of class and conviction.
And, when it was needed most, just a little bit of luck as substitute Abbie Larkin benefitted from one wild swipe of her left foot before a deft, deadly dink with her right to seal a 5-4 aggregate victory in the 90th minute.
It was no less than they deserved after a second-half display that seemed to take Belgium by surprise and left them clueless to counter the Irish dominance.
On the occasion of superstar Katie McCabe’s 100th cap, hopefully this will be a coming-of-age night for 20-year-old Larkin. She was the youngest member of the squad that travelled to the World Cup in 2023 and now, under new boss Carla Ward, her performance typified a growing maturity of this Ireland team.
There are still kinks to iron out – the first half showed that – but League A of Nations League now awaits as well as being seeded for the World Cup play-offs provided they don’t do the job and qualify themselves.
The way they dealt with what came their way here would make anything feel possible again. Belief is growing.
“One of the best feelings I’ve ever had,” Larkin said on RTÉ. “We fought through it, we never gave up, that shows what we’re all about. It shows we’re Irish and we’ll never give up.
“As soon as the goal went in I was like ‘wow’, I was actually going to start crying it was that good but I had to focus then for the next two minutes.”
It was a stunning end to a night that threatened to turn sour when Ireland’s two-goal lead was wiped out in seven disastrous first-half minutes.
It was a period that lurched from suffering at the feet of the sublime to inflicting some ridiculous punishment on themselves.
Belgium’s opener was brilliant just after the half hour mark, and it came at a time when Ireland’s own confidence and early assuredness was beginning to wane.
The hosts had begun to take control but maybe Ireland still felt a little too comfortable as when the Belgians upped the gears to turn on the style they cut them open with a blistering one-touch passage of play.
Laura Deloose played a simple square pass to Jarne Deulings and before Denise O’Sullivan could get close her opponent had already played a lovely pass around the corner to the feet of Janice Cayman. Deulings was on her bike away from O’Sullivan to get Cayman’a instant lay off and she fizzed the ball down the left for Deloose who also continued her run away from Aoife Mannion.
She looked up to see Jill Janssens bombing forward to the centre of the box and that is what attracted Katie McCabe across. The pass was miscued, though, and felt perfectly for Wullaert who finished first time with a finish back in the direction of where the cross came from.
Enough time had passed for Ireland to regain composure but conceding the second in the manner they did suggested they were still unnerved by the manner in which they were cut open previously.
A harmless ball forward should have been dealt with by Caitlin Hayes. The centre back was under no pressure and had time to take control, pick out a pass or clear her lines. Instead, she opted to clear straight away but scuffed it into the direction of Wullaert around 25 yards out.
That would have been of little concern had Grace Moloney not strayed well off her line, perhaps anticipating that Hayes might even have let the initial ball run through to her in the box.
Communication was lacking and Wullaert was not going to pass up the opportunity to make it international goal 98 for her country. She took one touch to control, another to get it out of her feet and then chipped the stranded Moloney.
If the manner of that equaliser to make it 4-4 on aggregate was infuriating, it was equally frustrating to see Ireland return for the second half and take complete control in an attacking sense.
Marissa Sheva was a livewire down the left, burrowing forward on two occasions to tee up Kyra Carusa for a shot she should have done better with before forcing a save herself with a shot across goal.
The best chance of the lot came on 65 minutes when Larkin raced onto not one but two headed flick ons, the first from Hayes and the second from Carusa, that sent her through on goal.
She was at an angle on the right but there was enough of the goal to aim for that she really should have hit the target instead of scuffing tamely wide. Thankfully this miss would not haunt her.
Such was Belgium’s annoyance at how Ireland had seized the initiative, captain Wullaert was shown a yellow card for hacking down McCabe from behind and then pushing Sheeva and squaring up to Hayes.
The game was in the balance entering the final quarter of normal time given what was at stake but it was Ireland attempting to tip the scales in their favour.
Despite the manner of those two goals they were far more commanding in defence and the energy and confidence shown by Sheeva, in particular, was stirring. Two minutes from time Ireland were again denied when O’Sullivan treated a ball through for Carusa in the box only for her shot to be expertly saved.
And then the last bit of drama.
McCabe launched a long ball. O’Sullivan won the flick on. Carusa scuffed a cross into the box and a sliding challenge from Deloose could only divert the ball to Larkin.
She swung wildly with her first effort but, in an instant, regained composure to score a goal that sent Ireland wild.
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